Fiber management enclosure for a fiber optic connector assembly and method of use

ABSTRACT

A managed fiber optic connector assembly formed with an optical fiber management enclosure. The optical fiber management enclosure is formed with a back body as one-piece to form an integrated fiber optic management enclosure, or fiber optic management enclosure is inserted into the back body form a two-piece enclosure. The fiber management enclosure has a plural of channels, for example, an upper channel and a lower channel that retain, separate and guide a plural of optical fibers that are accepted through a port at a distal end of the managed fiber optic connector assembly.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from U.S. Patent Application62/812,986 filed Mar. 2, 2019, titled “Fiber Management Enclosure withUniboot for a Fiber Optic Connector”, which is incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to an enclosure or strainrelief boot for helping to ensure incoming optical fibers are positionednext to each other without tangling or damage during use.

The prevalence of the Internet has led to unprecedented growth incommunication networks. Consumer demand for service and increasedcompetition has caused network providers need to find ways to improvequality of service while reducing cost.

Certain solutions have included deployment of high-density interconnectpanels. High-density interconnect panels may be designed to consolidatethe increasing volume of interconnections necessary to support thefast-growing networks into a compacted form factor, thereby increasingquality of service and decreasing costs such as floor space and supportoverhead.

In communication networks, such as data centers and switching networks,numerous interconnections between mating connectors may be compactedinto high-density panels. Panel and connector producers may optimize forsuch high densities by shrinking the connector size and/or the spacingbetween adjacent connectors on the panel. However, in a high-densitypanel configuration, adjacent connectors and cable assemblies have a lotof incoming optical fibers that need to be organized with their fiberoptic connectors so when removed from an adapter or receptacle theincoming fibers do not become tangled and break.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided anoptical fiber flexible boot configured to hold a plural of opticalfibers. The flexible or resilient boot is one-piece and configured withindividual ports, slots or openings to secure the incoming plural ofoptical fibers from the fiber optic cable. The fiber optic cable may bea round cable with a plural of optical fiber and strength members or aflat cable or ribbon cable with a plural of optical fiber and strengthmembers. Strength members include flexible wire or aramid fibers. Thefibers are usually secured with about a crimp post that extends from adistal end or cable end of the fiber management enclosure.

In the present invention, the back body is molded as one-piece ortwo-piece including a cavity. The backbody is configured to accept thefiber management enclosure. The enclosure is received at a proximal endor open end of the back body. The distal end or cable end of the backbody has crimp ring post molded as part of the back body main body. Thecrimp ring post can accept a deformable metal ring. When the opticalfibers are passed through the passageway of the post, the strengthmembers are positioned about the outer dimension of the post. The metalring is crimped over the strength members. Alternatively, the post maybe treaded to accept a screw cap that can bind the strength membersbetween the inner threads of the screw cap and the threads of the post.Also, the cable jacket can be secured to post to improve pull-strengthof the fiber optic cable during use. During use, a user may pull on thefiber optic cable to remove the fiber optic connector bundle from theadapter instead of pulling on the back body. Pulling on the cableincreases stress on the optical fibers causing breaks or fracturesleading to light loss or optical signal loss called insertion loss.

The fiber management enclosure has a main body with outer dimensionsconfigured to be received and secured within the cavity of the backbody. The distal end has main passageway that receives the plural ofoptical fiber from the fiber optic cable. Each optical fiber is fedthrough or positioned in a channel that branches off or extends from theinput port for the optical fibers into one or more upper and lowerchannels. The upper channels then further branch off into lower channelsthat each secure one or more optical fibers in slots. To help ensure theoptical fibers are maintained within the channels, the back body furthercomprises retention slots sized to accept the optical fiber withoutfracturing or breaking the optical fiber, and hold the optical fiber inplace.

The fiber management enclosure replaces fiber optic connectors andcassette in a network system. A trunk line interconnects two networkportions interconnect with fiber optic connectors such as MPO connectoror multi-fiber push-on connector. The trunk line is a high capacityoptical transmission line.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is an exploded view of the present invention deployed to form afiber optic connector;

FIG. 1A.1 is a side perspective view of a ferrule assembly;

FIG. 1A.2 is a rear perspective view of the ferrule assembly of FIG.1A.1;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the proximal end of a back body with afiber management enclosure therein according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view inserting the fiber management enclosure intothe back body of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of inserting the back body of FIG. 2 into theproximal end of a strain relief boot;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of dust caps prior to insertion at theproximal end of an assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a plural of fiber optic assemblies, thefiber management enclosure, and the strain relief boot;

FIG. 8 illustrates a connector outer housing configured to receive andsecure the partial assembly of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an assembled fiber optic connector deploying the fibermanagement enclosure of FIG. 13 or FIG. 15;

FIG. 10 is the assembled fiber optic connector of FIG. 9 secure withinan adapter;

FIG. 11 depicts a prior art deployment of a plural of optical fiberswithin a connector outer housing;

FIG. 12 is a top cut-away view of the fiber management enclosure showingthe pathway of the plural of optical fibers received from the fiberoptic cable;

FIG. 13 is top view of the fiber management enclosure;

FIG. 14 is a front-end view or proximal end view of the back body withthe fiber management enclosure therein;

FIG. 15 is a front-side view of the back body and fiber managementenclosure combined or integrated together;

FIG. 16 is a front-end view of the back body with the plural of opticalfibers positioned within the combined or unitary upper and lowerchannels of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17A depicts a prior art a prior art network using cassettes tointerconnect two networks by a trunk line, and

FIG. 17B depicts the present invention used to interconnect two networksby a trunk line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure is not limited to the particular systems, devices andmethods described, as these may vary. The terminology used in thedescription is for the purpose of describing the particular versions orembodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope.

As used in this document, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skillin the art. Nothing in this disclosure is to be construed as anadmission that the embodiments described in this disclosure are notentitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention. Asused in this document, the term “comprising” means “including, but notlimited to.”

The following terms shall have, for the purposes of this application,the respective meanings set forth below.

A connector, as used herein, refers to a device and/or componentsthereof that connects a first module or cable to a second module orcable. The connector may be configured for fiber optic transmission orelectrical signal transmission. A fiber optic connector has at least oneferrule with at least one optical fiber. The distal end of the ferruleis spliced or fused to an incoming optical fiber from an optical cable.The ferrule is secured with a ferrule flange and biased forward with aspring on the distal side of the flange and proximal a back body. Theback body has a main body with a cavity configured to hold the springand a portion of the ferrule assembly, and on the distal end is a postthat can accept a portion of the fiber optic cable such as the strengthmembers or cable jacket. The members or jacket or both is secured to thepost with a crimp ring, and the proximal end of the back body has atleast two latches that secure to the connector housing. A strain reliefboot is added over the post. A fiber optical connector may have aferrule with a plural of optical fibers with similar components.

A receptacle is an adapter with internal structure to secure a proximalend or ferrule end of a connector within a port or opening. An adapterallows a first and second connector to interconnect or oppose each otherto transmit a light signal from one part of a cable assembly to another,as an example. A receptacle may be a transceiver with an opening toreceive a connector.

A “fiber optic cable” or an “optical cable” refers to a cable containingone or more optical fibers for conducting optical signals in beams oflight. The optical fibers can be constructed from any suitabletransparent material, including glass, fiberglass, polymer opticalfiber, or plastic. The cable can include a jacket or sheathing materialsurrounding the optical fibers. Between the outer sheath and the opticalfiber are strands of strength members or tensile members. In addition,the cable can be connected to a connector on one end or on both ends ofthe cable.

A “fiber optic cable” or an “optical cable” refers to a cable containingone or more optical fibers for conducting optical signals in beams oflight. The optical fibers can be constructed from any suitabletransparent material, including glass, fiberglass, and plastic. Thecable can include a jacket or sheathing material surrounding the opticalfibers. In addition, the cable can be connected to a connector on oneend or on both ends of the cable.

Various embodiments described herein generally provide connectorassemblies having optical fiber connectors with push-pull tabsconfigured to allow a user to easily remove or insert connectors intoadapters, such as adapters disposed on a high density panel withoutdamaging surrounding connectors, accidentally disconnecting surroundingconnectors, disrupting transmissions through surrounding connectors,and/or the like.

FIG. 1A depicts an exploded view of managed fiber optic connector (100),assembled in FIG. 9. Managed fiber optic connector (100) comprisesstrain relief boot (30), crimp ring (46), back body (20), optical fibers(40), optical fiber management enclosure (10), bias springs (44), frontbodies (42) to hold ferrule (41) and the bias springs, outer connectorhousing (43) and optional dust cap (45) for each fiber optic connector.Connector (100) is assembled generally in the direction of the arrow“A”. FIG. 1A.1 depicts a side perspective view of fiber optic assembly(49) of FIG. 1A.2. Distal end (102) shows a plural of optic fiber (40)and outer wall (42.2) front body (42). FIG. 1A.2 depicts rear view offiber optic assembly (49) with ferrules (41) protruding from proximalend (101) of each front body (42). Middle wall (42.1) is secured withinfiber optic management enclosure (10) at middle wall recess (11) (referto FIG. 2).

FIG. 2 depicts back body (20) comprising main body with a cavity atproximal end. The cavity is configured to accept optical fibermanagement enclosure (10) of FIG. 13. Optical fiber management enclosure(10) supports a plural of optical fibers (40). Enclosure (10) helpsensure the optical fibers (40) do not become tangled or crossed with oneanother as can occur when deployed as shown in the prior artconfiguration of FIG. 11. At the proximal end of enclosure (10) arecorresponding middle wall recess (11) that retains middle wall (49.1) offiber optic assembly (49). Back body (20) ensures optical fibers (40)laid in upper channel (12) and in lower channel (13) or combined upperchannel (12) and lower channel (13) or unitary channel (61) (refer toFIG. 15) holds or retains each optical fiber (40) within the channel tohelp prevent damage to the individual optical fibers (40) or tanglingtwo or more optical fibers together resulting in optical fiber (40)damage or breakage. Back body (20) has a plural of front body hook (21)received in openings (42.3) at distal end of each corresponding frontbody (42). This is one way to secured back body (20) to connector outerhousing (43).

FIG. 3 depicts individual optical fibers secured within upper channel(12) and lower channel (13) of optical fiber management enclosure (10).Input port (36) feeds a plural of optical fiber (40) from a fiber opticcable. Back body (20) holds fiber optic management enclosure (10) inthis first embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment isdepicted in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16. The plural of optical fiber are routedand managed from port (36) along upper channel (12) and retained andmanaged within lower channel (12) until the optical fiber is splicedwith an optical fiber at the distal end of the ferrule called a pigtail.When connector (100) is assembled (refer to FIG. 9), fiber opticmanagement enclosure (10) is secured within back body (20), as shown inFIG. 4. FIG. 4 is an exploded view of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 depicts fiber opticmanagement enclosure (10) comprising individual middle wall recess (11a-11 d) for each optical fiber assembly (49) front body middle wall(42.1), lower channel (13), and upper channel (12) that separatesincoming bundle of optical fibers (40) into individual optical fiber andholds the optical fiber therein. Back body (20) keeps the optical fibersfrom becoming dislodged from the upper and lower channels when theenclosure (10) is secured within back body (20).

FIG. 5 depicts an exploded view of back body (20) with fiber opticmanagement enclosure (10), optical fibers secured within channels (12,13), and crimp ring (46) at distal end of back body (20). Back body (20)is inserted and secured within cavity (32) formed at proximal end ofstrain relief boot (30) as shown by arrow “A”. Strain relief boot (30)has plural of opposing outer connector housing latch (31 a-31 d).Latches (31 a-31 d) are accepted and secured within openings at distalend of connector outer housing (43), which secures the relief boot (30)with fiber optic management enclosure (10) therein to connector outerhousing (43). FIG. 6 depicts an exploded view of dust cap (45) beinginserted over assembled FIG. 5, in direction of arrow “A”, with fiberoptic management enclosure (10) secured with strain relief boot (30).

FIG. 7 depicts an exploded view of managed fiber optic connector (100)without back body (20). Optical fibers retained in channels (12, 13) arespliced to ferrule (41) at a distal end. At the distal end of ferrule(41) within fiber optic assembly (49) is a short optical fiber called apigtail that is spliced with incoming optical fiber (40). Front body(42) is shown accepting bias spring (44) about ferrule (41) and therelative position of fiber optic management enclosure (10) with thefront body (42). FIG. 7 further depicts connector outer housing latch(31 a-31 d) being received with opening (43.2 a-43.2 d) at the distalend of the connector outer housing (43). Connector outer housing (43)has a plural of opposing alignment key (43.1 a-43.1 d) on the top ofhousing (43), and alignment key (43.1 e) continues along bottom side ofthe connector housing, which helps insert connector (100) into adapter(34) without jamming, as depicted in FIG. 10.

Referring to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the figures depict assembly of strainrelief boot (30) accepting fiber optic assemblies (49) within fiberoptic enclosure (10), and outer hook (31 a-31 d) being secured withinopening (43.2 a-43.2 d) of outer connector housing (43) (noting backbody (20) is not shown), which secures the assembly components enclosure(10), fiber assembly (49) and back body (20) with outer housing (43) toform connector (100) along direction of arrow “A”.

Referring to FIG. 9, connector outer housing (43) has a plural ofopposing openings (43.2 a-43.2 d) (refer to FIG. 8) configured to acceptrelief boot (30) to secure back body (20) and fiber management enclosure(10) with connector outer housing (43) to form managed fiber opticconnector (100). FIG. depicts assembled managed fiber optic connector(100) inserted into adapter (34).

FIG. 11 depicts prior art optical fiber management system. The bundle ofoptical fibers enter a prior art connector back body and fan out atbreakout point (35) with cavity (34.1). As illustrated there are nochannels to separate individual optical fibers. The optical fibers arelaid within cavity (34.1) foamed in the back body and/or connector outerhousing, (as shown in the prior art). During use the optical fibers canbecome tangled when the user pulls on the fiber optic cable thatcontains the bundle of optical fibers. By contrast, FIG. 12 depictsdeploying fiber management enclosure (10) within back body (20).

FIG. 12 is a top view cut-away illustrating upper channel (12) and lowerchannel (13) separating bundle of optical fiber (47) into individualoptical fiber retained by corresponding channels (12, 13) and spliced tothe distal end of the ferrule assembly. Each ferrule assembly has aferrule housing and ferrule with a short length of optical fiber that isspliced to the optical fibers provided by the fiber optic cable. Fiberoptic assembly (49 a) is depicted in FIG. 1A.2.

FIG. 13 depicts optical fiber management enclosure (10). The bundle ofoptical fiber are placed through opening or port (36) and laid alongupper channel (13), then along lower channels (13). Upper channel (12)separates individual optical fiber from the bundle of optical fiber thatenter port (36) from a fiber optic cable. Each upper channel (12)separates one or more optical fibers into one or more lower channel(13), and individual front body middle wall (42.1) is secured withcorresponding middle wall recess (11), where the individual opticalfiber (40) are spliced to a short optical fiber called a pigtailextending from the distal end of the ferrule. (refer to FIG. 17B). Afterthe optical fibers are laid within the channels, enclosure (10) isinserted into back body (20) and the back body aids in retaining theoptical fibers within the channels.

FIG. 14 depicts a front end view of fiber optic management enclosure(10) retained within back body (20). Middle wall recesses (11 a-11 d)accept fiber optic connector assembly (FIG. 1A.2) middle wall (42.2) toposition the plural of fiber optic assembly at the proximal end of theenclosure (10). Lower channels (13) retain and guide optic fiber (40)from, (a pair of optical fiber for a two ferrule fiber optic connectoras depicted in FIG. 1A.2), upper channel (12) via port (36) that acceptsa bundle of optical fibers from the fiber optic cable. Inner front body(42) hook (21 a-21 h) are accepted in a corresponding front body opening(42.3) (refer to FIG. 1A.2). This secures back body (20) to front body(42) of each fiber optic assembly which is in turned secured by strainrelief boot (30) to form connector (100) as described above.

FIG. 15 depicts alternative embodiment of the present invention. Backbody (20) and optical fiber management enclosure (10) is combinedforming integrated, one-piece fiber optic management assembly (60).Upper channel (12) and lower channel (13) are combined into unitarychannel (61). FIG. 15 depicts a front view of assembly (60) thatcomprises main body (62) with one or more front body retention hook (21a-12 h). FIG. 16 depicts integrated fiber optic management assembly (60)with optical fiber bundle (40) composed of individual optical fiber(40.1-40.8) separated and secured by a corresponding unitary channel (61a-61 h). As in first embodiment (refer to FIGS. 12-14), port (36)accepts the bundle of incoming optical fibers (40). Recess (22 a-22 h)accepts inner front body (42) structured to retain the fiber opticconnector assembly (49) within integrated enclosure (60) when connector(100) is formed deploying enclosure (60).

FIG. 17A and FIG. 17B depict a network topology. FIG. 17A is a prior artnetwork connecting first network (58.1) with second network (58.2) withtrunk (50). Four-port transceiver (56.1) delivers optical signal andeach signal is delivered to fiber optic connector (57.1-57.8) from firstMPO connector (59.1). Each optical fiber (40) is consolidated within acavity of first cassette (51.1). The cavity holds the plural of opticalfiber from LC/DX fiber optic connectors (57.1-57.8). The optical fibersare laid in cassette body (51.1, 51.2), and spliced to second MPOconnector (59.2) that is in optical communication with trunk line (50).Third MPO connector (59.3) is configured to break out the plural ofoptical signals from trunk line (50) and then reconnect to acorresponding optical fiber connector (57.5-57.8). A second cassette(51.2) consolidates the optical fibers from the third MPO connector(59.3). The optical fibers (40) are spliced to a corresponding LC/DXfiber optic connector (57.5-57.9) are in optical communication withfourth MPO connector (59.4). The fourth MPO connector is in opticalcommunication with a second transceiver (56.2). Transceiver may be aPSM4, DR4 or SR4 configuration. Reading FIG. 17A from left to right,there are four MPO connectors, eight LC/DX fiber optic connectors andtwo cassettes. Optical fibers are loosely placed in the cassette cavity,which lead tangling and breakage of the optical fibers.

FIG. 17B depicts the present invention deploying managed fiber opticconnector assembly (100) with the fiber optic management enclosure (10)and back body (20) or integrated fiber optic management enclosure (60)deployed to interconnect the first network (58.1) and second network(58.2) along the trunk line (50). MPO connectors, LC/DX connectors andcassettes, of FIG. 17A, are replaced by connector (100) and a plural ofdata center connectors (65). All the connectors (65) are of the sametype helping to reduce inventory, and simplifying network install.Managed fiber optic connector (100) accepts the optical fibers from thetrunk line at a second managed fiber optic connector (100) operativelyconnected to the second network. As described above connector (100) hasoptic fiber management enclosure (10) formed as a two-piece assemblywith back body (20) or integrated enclosure (10) with back body (20)resulting in a one-piece, integrated fiber optic management assembly(60). The trunk line is a fiber optic cable with a plural of opticalfibers. The plural of optical fibers are provided by a fiber optic cableor by a plural of fiber optic connector (65) each operatively connectorto another fiber optic connector (65). A first transceiver (56.1) isoperatively connector to a plural of fiber optic connectors (65), whichare operatively connected to a second plural of opposing fiber opticconnectors (65). The second plural of fiber optic connectors (65) havetheir optical fiber guided by an upper channel and a lower channel or aunitary channel formed as part of fiber optic management enclosure (10)or integrated fiber optic management assembly (60) respectively, whichcan be used to form managed fiber optic connector (100.1, 100.2). Trunkline (50) interconnects managed fiber optic connector (100.1) andmanaged fiber optic connector (100.2) to form an optical communicationpathway trunk line (50) to interconnect the first network (58.1) withthe second network (58.2).

Still referring to FIG. 17B, the removal of cassettes (51.1, 51.2) andplural of MPO connectors (59.1-59.4) simplifies the network topology andconstruction. The use of fiber optic connectors (65) allows the user tosplice and connector only one type of connector not two as in FIG. 17A,the prior art network, using MPO connector (59) and the LC/DX connectors(57). Next, cassette (51) does not provide channels, as in the presentinvention, that guide, retain and route the optical fibers from a firstside of the cassette to the second side of the cassette therebyincreasing optical fiber breakage and damage due to tangling of opticalfiber together. And if an optical fiber has a latent breakage that at alater date manifests itself, it is much easier for the user to trace thedamaged fiber and remove it from the channel (12, 13) than from atangled group of 100's of optical fibers stuffed into a cavity of acassette.

Typical prior art, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,496,648 titled Optical FiberCassette, to Andersen assigned to Lucent Technologies, Inc., has aplural of spool walls to wrap optical fiber. The present inventiondiffers in channels one after another continually branch of the pluralof optical fiber until the needed optical fiber are positioned atferrule of the optical fiber connector or optic fiber assembly.

In the above detailed description, reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings, similar symbolstypically identify similar components, unless context dictatesotherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detaileddescription, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Otherembodiments may be used, and other changes may be made, withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presentedherein. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the presentdisclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in theFigures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designedin a wide variety of different configurations, all of which areexplicitly contemplated herein.

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particularembodiments described in this application, which are intended asillustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations canbe made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparentto those skilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods andapparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to thoseenumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from theforegoing descriptions. With respect to the use of substantially anyplural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art cantranslate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular tothe plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. Thevarious singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth hereinfor sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, termsused herein, and especially in the appended claims (for example, bodiesof the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (forexample, the term “including” should be interpreted as “including butnot limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having atleast,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but isnot limited to,” et cetera). While various compositions, methods, anddevices are described in terms of “comprising” various components orsteps (interpreted as meaning “including, but not limited to”), thecompositions, methods, and devices can also “consist essentially of” or“consist of” the various components and steps, and such terminologyshould be interpreted as defining essentially closed-member groups. Itwill be further understood by those within the art that if a specificnumber of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intentwill be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of suchrecitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (for example, “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, evenif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitlyrecited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitationshould be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (for example,the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, meansat least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, inthose instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B,and C, et cetera” is used, in general such a construction is intended inthe sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention(for example, “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” wouldinclude but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, Calone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, et cetera). In those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, et cetera” is used, in generalsuch a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (for example, “a system having at leastone of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that haveA alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, et cetera). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive wordand/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood toinclude the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are describedin terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individualmember or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

Applicant numbering includes 21(a), 21(b) or (a)-(d) for example whenthere is the same structure that repeats itself. Applicant usesnumbering such as front body (42) and then further defines structure tothat element by inner wall (42.1).

The invention claimed is:
 1. A managed fiber optic connector,comprising: an integrated, one-piece fiber optic management component; astrain relief boot comprising a cavity and a plurality of outerconnector housing latch hooks; an outer connector housing comprising aplurality of latch hook openings; and a plurality of fiber opticassemblies; wherein the cavity accepts the integrated one-piece fiberoptic management component; wherein the plurality of outer connectorhousing latch hooks are accepted within the plurality of latch hookopenings of the outer connector housing to connect the outer connectorhousing to the strain relief boot; wherein the outer connector housingaccepts the plurality of fiber optic assemblies; wherein the pluralityof fiber optic assemblies attach to the integrated, one-piece opticfiber management assembly.
 2. The managed fiber optic connector of claim1, further comprising a multi-piece fiber optic management assemblyformed from a back body and a fiber optic management enclosureconfigured to be inserted into the back body, wherein the integrated,one-piece fiber optic management component is replaceable with themulti-piece fiber optic management assembly.
 3. The managed fiber opticconnector of claim 1, wherein the integrated, one-piece fiber opticmanagement component further comprises a post at a distal end portionthereof, the post being configured to accept one or more strengthmembers of a fiber optic cable which are securable on the post.
 4. Themanaged fiber optic connector of claim 3, wherein the post defines aport configured to accept a plurality of optical fibers of the cable,the integrated, one-piece fiber optic management component comprisingopposing upper channels extending from the port and opposing lowerchannels extending from each of the opposing lower channels, the upperchannels being configured to split plurality of optical fibers intofirst and second sets of optical fibers and the lower channels beingconfigured to further split each of the first and second set of opticalfibers into respective first and second subsets of optical fibers, eachof the lower channels being configured to hold the respective subset ofoptical fibers for splicing each optical fiber of the respective subsetto a ferrule.
 5. The managed fiber optic connector of claim 1, wherein aplurality of unitary channels are formed within the integrated,one-piece fiber optic management component.
 6. The managed fiber opticconnector of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of unitary channelsaccepts and retains at least one optical fiber provided by a fiber opticcable, and the proximal end of each optical fiber is secured with aferrule to form an optical communication pathway from a fiber opticcable comprising a plurality of optical fibers.
 7. A fiber opticnetwork, comprising: a first fiber optic network and a second fiberoptic network a trunk line interconnecting the first fiber optic networkand the second fiber optic network; the trunk line comprising aplurality of optical fibers; a first fiber optic management enclosure inoptical communication with a first plurality of fiber optic connectorsreceiving an optical signal from a first transceiver at first end of thefirst optic management enclosure; a second end of the first fiber opticmanagement enclosure is in optical communication with the trunk line, asecond fiber optic management enclosure, and wherein the trunk line isin optical communication with the second fiber optic network enclosureforming the fiber optic network.
 8. The fiber optic network according toclaim 7, wherein a first end of the second fiber optic network enclosureis in optical communication with a second transceiver located in thesecond network.